Card stacker



J 8, 1957 R. P.'WlLLARD I 2,796,260

CARD STACKER I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed on. 26, 1954 INVENTOR;

ATTORNEYS June 18, 1957 r R. P. WILLARQ 2,796,260

CARD STACKER 2- Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 26,. i954 7" .Z 5.. 422 A5 I l 4 M 2411M 7 J;

// INVENTOR) ATTORNEYS United States Patent CARD STACKER Robert P. Willard, Dover, N. H., assignor to Moore Business Forms, Inc., Niagara Falls, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application October 26, 1954, Serial No. 464,804

' 3 Claims. (Cl. 271-88) The present invention relates to a card stacker and more particularly to a device for receiving and stacking a series of individual cards or similar flat articles which are rapidly delivered thereto.

One of the most common uses for stackers of this general type is in conjunction with the various types of card punching machines wherein cards are rapidly ejected or otherwise discharged from the machines, often at a rate of several hundred per mintue. Since, many times, it is necessary to process the cards which are delivered from one machine through a second machine, it is desirable to collect the cards in stacks in which the edges of each card in the stack are in alignment, and thus obviate the necessity for jogging or otherwise straightening the edges Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken on the plane of line 3-3 in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an end elevational view looking from left to right in Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the plane of line 5-5 in Figure 2 showing the connection between the platform supporting means and the main frame.

Referring now more specificially to the drawings, the main frame of the present stacker is designated generally by the reference numeral and includes a pair of generally triangular side frame members 11 and 12. These side plates can be made of sheet metal or other similar material and are supported in spaced relation to one another by means of transversely extending rods 13, 14

- and 15 which are secured at various points between of the stack before placing them in the second machine.

Attempts have previously been made to design and construct stackers of this general type wherein the cards which are delivered from card punching and like machines can be automatically stacked neatly in piles, with the top of the uppermost card in the stack lying at all times in the same horizontal plane. For the most part, these prior machines have not proved entirely satisfactory from an efiiciency standpoint. For example, many times the platform upon which the cards are to be stacked travels through a vertical arc as each successive card is received thereon, and in such instances the stack is thus tilted either forwardly or rearwardly throughout most of the stacking operation, with the result that the stack requires jogging to align the edges of the cards, and in some instances results in the stacks falling over. It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide a card stacker which will effectively receive a series of individual cards which are rapidly delivered thereto from card punching machines, align the edges of the cards in the stack, and maintain the top of the uppermost card at a constant level, thus obviating the above-mentioned disadvantages.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a card stacker in which the receiving platform is designed and constructed so as to be lowered through successive horizontal planes upon the delivery of individual cards thereto to thus effectively maintain the stack in vertical as well as horizontal alignment.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a stacking device having a novel and easily calibrated means for counterbalancing the weight of the cards as they are received on the stacking platform to thus maintain the top of the uppermost card of the stack at a constant level.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a stacker of this general type which is compact in nature while retaining all of the above advantages and which can also be easily and economically produced.

Other objects and advantages wil be apparent from the following more detailed description of the invention when read in conjunction with the attached drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of the present card stacker;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same;

these side plates.

A card receiving platform is positioned adjacent one end of the stacker and has a generally horizontal portion 16 and an upstanding back portion 17 secured at the rearward end thereof. The platform also has a pair of spaced side plates or guards 18 and 19 which lie outside the edges of the horizontal portion 16 of the platform and in abutting relation with flanges 23 and 24 which depend from portion 16, and are rigidly secured thereto by suitable means such as bolts or the like 20 and 21.

The platform is mounted for vertical movement through successive horizontal planes by means of a pair of longitudinally extending supporting rods 25, 26 positioned one on either side of the stacker and a second pair of longitudinally extending supporting rods 27, 28 positioned one on either side of the stacker beneath rods 25 and 26, however, spaced a short distance therefrom. These rod members, as shown in Figure 5, are bifurcated at 29 adjacent their forward ends, with the side plate members 18 and 19 of the platform extending into the bifurcations and being pivotally secured to the supporting rods by means of studs or the like 30.

The rod pairs'25 and 26 are secured adjacent their rearward ends to a transversely extending shaft 31, while the rod pairs 27 and 28 are secured adjacent their rearward ends to a transversely extending shaft 32. Shafts 31 and 32 are pivotally secured to the side frame members 11 and 12 of the stacker by any suitable means such as pointed studs 33 secured to the side plate members and extending into recesses 34 in the respective transverse shaft members. It can be seen, therefore, that with the stacker platform 16 pivotally mounted at two points to the rod pairs 25, 26 and 27, 28 and the rods in turn pivotally mounted adjacent their rearward ends to the frame of the stacker, any weight that is placed on the platform will cause it to move through a succession of horizontal planes with the supporting portion 16 of the platform remaining horizontal at all times, see the dotted line position of Figure 3.

The mechanism for allowing the platform to lower through a distance approximately equal to the thickness of one card, as each card is received thereon, includes a depending rod member 36 secured to shaft 32 intermediate the ends thereof and a tension spring 37 having one end secured at 38 adjacent the lower end of rod 36 and its other end secured to a rod 39 extending between the side plates of the main frame. Spring 37 thus opposes the rotational force applied to shaft 32 by the weight of the cards delivered to the stacker platform. As can be seen particularly in Figure 3, the spring has a loop 40 at either end so that it can easily be secured to the shaft 39 and rod 36 respectively. It is also apparent that with this ease of connection, the spring 37 is readily interchangeable so that springs of various tensions can be used to thus counterbalance different weight cards which are to be stacked.

It should be understood that the foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention is merely illustrative and any changes which might occur to one skilled in the art are contemplated by the invention within the scope of thefollowing claims; for example, any known or suitable type of parallelmotion can be employed in place of the rods 25, 26, 27

and 28 as, for instance, one in which steel bands are used.

instead of the rods shown.

Having thus described thev invention, What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

17 A card stacker comprising a frame, a parallelogram linkage comprising a pair of generally horizontal rigid links pivoted tosaid frame for vertical swinging movement about relatively fixed vertically spaced horizontal axes, a card receiving platform pivotally connected to the free ends of said links at relatively vertically spaced points, for vertical movement with said free ends, a crank arm extending radially from. the fixed axis of one of said links, and means fixedly connecting the arm to said one link for angular movement therewith, and a spring connected under tension between said arm and said frame at a location eccentric to the axis of said one link.

2. A card stacker as defined in claim 1, in which the connection between said spring and the crank arm is spaced from the fixed axis of said one link a distance substantially less than the length of said link, whereby the weight of the supported platform will act on the spring at a mechanical advantage and thus increase the sensitivity of the device.

3. A card stacker as defined in claim 1 in which the said spring is formed with a terminal loop receiving said arm to provide the connection between said arm and the spring, said loop being radially adjustable along the arm to vary the effective length of said crank amn and the rotational force transmitted through it to the said one link.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,928,923 Andersen Oct. 3, 1933 2,083,948 Gesell June 15, 1937 2,084,741 Price June 22, 1937 2,588,322 Herbst Mar. 4, 1952 an: *-I 

